5 Important Game Releases You Need to Play This Week

After the fairly quiet start to 2016, the gaming landscape begins to heat up with a number of exciting titles launching this week. From a new Assassin’s Creed spin-off to an emotional adventure game, here are the biggest game releases this week:

Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: India

12 January 2016 (PS4, Xbox One, PC)

While it’s inevitable we will be getting another full-blown Assassin’s Creed game later this year, fans of roof-jumping and stabbing things can keep themselves busy with Assassin’s Creed: India, one of the spin-off games in the AC universe. As part of the Assassin’s Creed Chronicles series, the game will differ stylistically from most previous entries in the franchise, being set on 2.5D plane. Players take control of a new assassin, Arbaaz Mir, in Amritsar 1841, in the midst of a war between the Sikh Empire and the East India Company, but of course, those pesky Templars are up to no good and it’s up to Arbaaz to foil their plans.

Gone Home

12 January 2016 (Xbox One, PS4)

Gone Home is an atmospheric first-person story game. There’s no points, no enemies. It’s just you and an empty house with a story — well, stories — to tell. And soon it’ll be on your Xbox One and PlayStation 4, If you’re looking for a sombre yet emotional narrative-driven game, Gone Home should be on your list this week.

That Dragon, Cancer

12 January 2016 (PC)

One of the most interesting games releasing this month is that of That Dragon, Cancer. The game is going to lay some heavy decisions and difficult subject matter on gamers. How do you deal with a terminal cancer diagnosis of your twelve month old child? It presents you with the decisions you’d have to make in such a harrowing situation similar to those that developers Ryan and Amy Green had to make in real life.

Tharsis

12 January 2016 (PS4, PC)

In Tharsis, you are in control of the first manned mission to Mars as everything falls to pieces. It is up to you to help the crew survive in face of disasters, food shortages, and space itself. Using dice to make decisions and decide your fate because perma-death is real in Tharsis. As you try to salvage the mission, you’ll have to contend with cannibalism, insanity, and what really is going on with the mysterious signal and Mars which was the catalyst for the whole trip in the first place.

Oxenfree

12 January 2016 (Xbox One, PC)

Oxenfree is a supernatural adventure game, where you decide how to deal with your friends, the events occurring on an island, and the spooky creatures inhabiting it. The game takes place in a fictional Pacific Nortwest town called Camena based on Astoria, Oregon. Inspired by films like Stand By Me, Super 8, and Poltergeist, Oxenfree is equal parts coming of age story and supernatural thriller.